USPS hosts meeting on possible closure of Escondido location

The Escondido Post Office at 403 N. Escondido Boulevard is being looked at as part of a closure study. The public will have a chance to weigh in during an open meeting Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. at the post office’s Escondido Boulevard location. Photo by Tony Cagala

ESCONDIDO — In further attempts to save money, the USPS (United States Postal Service) has started looking into consolidating Post Office locations around the county.

The USPS has begun a closure study on the Post Office at 403 N. Escondido Blvd. As part of the closure study, the Postal Service will be hosting a community meeting to hear from the public on the possible closure Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Post Office’s Escondido Boulevard location.

Escondido currently has two other Post Offices in operation at 1157 W. Mission Ave. and 1770 E. Valley Pkwy.

The Escondido Boulevard location has been open since June 1, 1993, according to Don Smeraldi, manager of corporate communications for USPS.

Mayor Sam Abed sent a letter to the USPS, appealing that the Escondido location remains open.

A reply letter from the USPS, which was posted on the city’s website, said that an appeal was premature at this point, as no final decision has yet been made regarding its closure.

An appeal may only be made by the public if the site has been selected for closure.

Back in June, the Post Office in Leucadia on Coast Highway 101 was scheduled to be looked at for possible consolidation. The USPS has since renewed its lease for five years, Smeraldi confirmed, though the closure study at the Leucadia site is expected to begin once the Escondido study is complete.

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe, on Sept. 19, told a U.S. Senate Committee that the “U.S. Postal Service is in the midst of a financial disaster and that its cash liquidity remains dangerously low.”

According to a release from the USPS, Donahoe is seeking legislation to help close a $20 million budget gap by 2017.

Donahoe told the committee that the way the Postal Service exists today is “financially unsustainable,” and that they are at the point where they have to consider price increases for its services.